New Delhi: The Centre on Friday introduced in the Lok Sabha the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, proposing to amend 79 central acts administered by 23 ministries. The bill was introduced by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada in the Lok Sabha.
According to the government, as many as 784 provisions are being proposed to be amended, out of which 717 provisions are being decriminalised to “foster ease of doing business”, and 67 provisions are proposed to be changed to “facilitate ease of living”.
Removal Of 1-yr Imprisonment Provision For Non-compliance With Realty Norms
As part of the bill, the Centre has proposed to remove the existing provision of maximum one-year imprisonment for an allottee who fails to comply with orders from the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal. The amendment seeks to substitute Section 68 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, under which such allottee shall be liable to a penalty, which may extend up to ten per cent of the plot, apartment or building cost.
“Penalty for failure to comply with orders of Appellate Tribunal by allottee – If any allottee fails to comply with, or contravenes any of the orders or directions of the Appellate Tribunal, as the case may be, he shall be liable to a penalty, which may extend up to ten per cent of the plot, apartment or building cost, as the case may be,” the Bill stated.
Under the existing Section 68 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, mandates penalties for allottees who fail to comply with orders from the Appellate Tribunal. Violators may face up to one year imprisonment and/or a daily fine, cumulatively up to 10 per cent of the project’s cost, effective from May 1, 2017.
Illegal Occupants Of Govt Premises To Pay 40 Times Fee
The central government has proposed stringent penalties for unauthorised occupants of government premises, saying that 40 times the licence fee of the property will have to be paid as a penalty in the first month, which would progressively increase by 10 per cent every subsequent month.
Under the proposed amendment, any person found unlawfully occupying public non-residential land may face simple imprisonment of up to six months, or a fine calculated at five per cent of the land value for every year of illegal occupation, or both.
The Bill seeks to amend the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971. The proposed amendments also crack down heavily on repeat offenders.
New Penalty Provisions Under Slums Act
The Centre has also proposed penalty provisions of The Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956, under which offences will attract a penalty of up to Rs 10,000 for each instance of non-compliance. Under the existing provision of Section 32, offences are punishable with imprisonment of up to three months or a fine of up to Rs 1,000, or both. In cases of continuing violations, an additional penalty of Rs 1,000 per day will be imposed after the first contravention, subject to a maximum cap of Rs 1 lakh.
The Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956, is to provide for the improvement and clearance of slum areas in certain Union territories and for the protection of tenants in such areas from eviction.
New Property Tax Framework For NDMC Areas
Under the Jan Vishwas Bill, the government has also proposed a new property tax framework in New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) areas, ease criminal provisions for minor offences, and tighten enforcement for tax violations. It proposes a complete overhaul of the tax structure under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) Act, 1994, specifying that property tax will now comprise two components: building tax and vacant land tax, replacing the earlier section 61 of The New Delhi Municipal Act 1994.
To implement this, it is proposed that a Municipal Valuation Committee will be set up every three years to classify properties, fix base values, and recommend how taxes should be determined and revised. If revisions are delayed, values may be indexed to inflation, ensuring periodic increases, proposed legislation states.
The proposed bill seeks to introduce a mandatory Property Identification Code for each property, which residents will need for tax payments and civic services.
No Jail Term For Non-Compliance Under Electricity Act
The government has also proposed to scrap jail terms for non-compliance with orders or directions issued under the Electricity Act, but raised the penalty to the extent of Rs 10 lakh under the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill.
The bill also proposed to omit the clause related to the penalty for extinguishing public lamps, besides streamlining penal provisions under the Electricity Act. Section 141 of the Electricity Act provides, “Whoever, maliciously extinguishes any public lamp shall be punishable with a fine which may be extended to two thousand rupees”. Section 146 deals with ‘Punishment for non-compliance of orders or directions’.
The bill proposed that in section 146, “imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both”, the words “fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to ten lakh rupees” shall be substituted. In the case of a continuing failure to comply with the directions or orders of the power regulators, it proposed that it “may extend to five thousand rupees”, the words “which shall not be less than one thousand rupees but which may extend to fifty thousand rupees” shall be substituted.
Cattle Trespass Act Gets Decriminalisation Push
The Jan Vishwas Bill also proposes a sweeping overhaul of the 153-year-old Cattle Trespass Act, decriminalising key offences, replacing jail terms with financial penalties, and routing collected fines to animal welfare.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, introduces two new functionaries into the Act’s enforcement framework: an “adjudicating officer” at the level of Sub-Divisional Magistrate or equivalent, and an “appellate authority” at the District Magistrate level, while also updating definitions of “local authority” and “officer of police.”
Reflecting the broader legislative transition away from colonial-era criminal law, the Bill substitutes a reference to Section 6 of the Indian Penal Code with the corresponding provision — Clause 28 of Section 2 — of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. In one of its more substantive changes, the Bill replaces the word “fine” with “penalty” across Sections 12 to 17 and 22 to 27 — a shift that signals a move from criminal to civil enforcement.
Under the revised Section 12, state governments will be empowered to prescribe scales of penalty for impounded cattle. Existing provisions under which a Magistrate could impose imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of Rs 500 are replaced with adjudication by an officer empowered to levy a penalty of up to Rs 5,000.
Under a redrawn Section 26, neglect or damage involving pigs will attract a penalty of Rs 1,000, while offences involving cattle will draw up to Rs 5,000. The Magistrate-imposed fine of Rs 50 under Section 27 is similarly replaced with an adjudicating officer-imposed penalty of up to Rs 5,000.
Reduced Jail Term Under Food Safety Law
The government has also proposed to reduce the jail term for interfering with seized items, like food and vehicles, under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, from a maximum of six months to three months. As per the provisions of the Jan Vishwas Amendment Bill, the government proposes to make certain changes in ‘The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006’. In section 60 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act), for the words ‘six months’, the words ‘three months’ shall be substituted, the bill stated.
Section 60 deals with punishment for interfering with seized items. As per the current Section 60 of the FSS Act, “If a person without the permission of the food safety officer, retains, removes or tampers with any food, vehicle, equipment, package or labelling or advertising material or other thing that has been seized under this Act, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months and also with fine which may extend to Rs 2 lakh.”
